STM

Sorry, no that was a bit flippant. Not twice as good but he essentially did what Bruno has been doing over a 15/20 year career, won everything in the game multiple times and has been rightly critiqued by his peers as one the greatest of his era. I know you can be a great player and have shit opinions, but there must be some weight to Zizu saying you are the best. He wasnt as good as Zidane, in fairness but id consider Zidane in the pantheon alongside Messi and Co. Scholes was unreal. Hard to compare generations I suppose, when you see the numbers players like De Bruyne have put in but if you want to talk specifically about what makes a world class midfielder, you dont need to look further than Scholes.

Also, we cant spend our time (rightly) drooling about how good Bruno and Tonali are and then come in here talking about Scholes being overrated. Like it or not, Scholes was twice the player of our boys but let's see how close Tonali gets by the time hes 35 or so, he might not be far off.

Paul Scholes was an outrageous footballer. It blows my mind that anyone would say hes overrated. If you want a lesson in awareness, touch, passing ability, finishing, movement, look no further. He was every bit as good as Xavi and Iniesta, he just never got to play in Peps Barcelona side. Hes my favourite non Newcastle player. Kids should watch Scholes clips if they want to learn what a midfielder should to.

Im not going to talk about the overall financial/PSR side of things because im sure some of the negative boring bastards have already covered it and used it as a stick to beat the club with... So I will talk simply about football... The answer is that we arent a million miles away. We know that because last year we beat the current champions in a final and the likely new PL champions 3 times in 4 games. Id say from a players point of view: A goalkeeper who can both play with his feet and be commanding (a unicorn). A world class winger, weve got 4 good ones but the reality is that we dont have a Saka or a Salah or a Mane or a Mahrez, these players will chip in with vital goals and be the difference in big games. Throughout the squad we likely need one or two more to cover vulnerable areas: LB, CM, RB. One of the most important things we need to compete is a good start to a season. Weve never really got out of the traps under Howe and won 4 or 5 of our first 6 games. We always seem to be chasing. We are a momentum team and if we can start well, it could snowball and you could see us going well into a title race. Weve done incredibly well to get within touching distance and from just the eye test, there are only 2 sides in this league who I think are better than us, Arsenal and Man City (even they have frailties). Liverpool, nobody knows what's going to happen. Incredible squad, shite manager. Don't tell me that Chelsea, Man United, Villa etc are better, im just not buying it. In terms of this season, some of those sides with good starts are about to start slipping up as we go through the gears.

He plays in the position i love the most, and the hardest position on the pitch IMO. I agree, I think hes my favourite ever NUFC player, hes just superb at everything. So long as he doesn't do an Isak on us, he will be a club great for sure. He would likely be captain if it wasnt for Bruno.

Provided Krafth or Willock dont start, and this isnt trashing either of them, the side we put out will be quality. What a lovely thought.

You can often get a sense by who didnt play, who might play the next game. I think Botman will be back. Pope Trippier Thiaw Botman Burn Bruno Tonali Joelinton Murphy Woltemade Gordon I think Miley, Schar and Ramsey will start in the CL, possibly Barnes too.

I think this depth we have is actually going to prolong Joelintons career here. Had we been relying on Joelinton, we would all get frustrated with him in the games where we need a little more quality on the ball. I also dont think Joelinton can keep his best physical levels for multiple games on the spin. Its not like Bruno where even if hes at 90% he will add class on the ball. Joelinton will get plenty of game time but can also be rotated out of the team. Hes also incredibly useful tactically, when we need an emergency wing back or if we have a man sent off and need someone whos capable of doing two jobs off the ball. Id rather have 100% Joelinton for the games he plays than 80% every week, when hes not quite the same player.

"I knew better" "You guys are all idiots" "This forum which i have contempt for but I keep returning too, doesn't know as much as me". You are valuable contributor and a sterling individual.

I think this forum should have standards and you should be booted in the sun. How's that for standards?

Welcome to football. I'll take you through how it works. New players, at new clubs, with new systems and new teammates, take time to adjust to their surroundings. If you think we bought Elanga as a finished product, then you haven't been paying attention. Hes not been as good as any of us thought he would be... but that doesn't determine his future.

Gordon has looked really bright his last few games and is at least contributing in goals, assists and moments.

I think Elangas performances are fair game for criticism. Theres been some really decent stuff from him but theres also been some awful basic stuff from him too. Remember what Jacob Murphy was like at his age? Elanga has loads to work with. Come back in 18 month and I suspect he will be an absolute beast to deal with.

Last year we faced the best side in the country.

Feel like there will be one upset in the other games too.

Perfect

If anything, its all going wrong too quickly. Slow down Slot or they will sack you and get someone better.

Won 5 out 6 with 4 clean sheets.

How long before we discuss if hes better than Botman?

"I don't think hes deliberately time wasting Jamie". Get off the fucking pitch and do it.

What channel for draw?

Weve come so far that we won that game in 2nd gear and rotated, whilst also completely deserving it.

You've summed my feelings up. I feel like hes just making all the wrong decisions.

Just oozes silk. Looking forward to seeing how Eddie develops him.

At one point he overtook Joelinton to track back. hed been on the pitch 60 mins longer.